Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J Ryan Stradal
author interview, character driven fiction, family drama, Feel good fiction, fiction humor, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues author interview, character driven fiction, family drama, Feel good fiction, fiction humor, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J Ryan Stradal

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE LAKESIDE SUPPER CLUB will feel like home to Midwesterners – grab a stool at the bar and settle in for a warm and witty read.

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On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel
#literarynovel, addiction, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, generational trauma, literary fiction, poetry, Sense of Place Fiction, true crime, women's issues #literarynovel, addiction, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, generational trauma, literary fiction, poetry, Sense of Place Fiction, true crime, women's issues

On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel

McDaniel’s strength lies in her lyrical prose and character development. I cared for the twins and their ragtag family of friends, but I also despaired for their future, and raged at a world where the women were not considered victims, but somehow implicated in their own demise. Women in abusive relationships are often told they deserve to be mistreated and women who use drugs and prostitute themselves to make a living are told they are asking for it. ON THE SAVAGE SIDE is a testimony to missing women everywhere. Bravo to McDaniel for lifting up these silenced voices.

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Demon Copperhead By Barbara Kingsolver
#literarynovel, addiction, Appalachia, character driven fiction, coming of age, family drama, generational trauma, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, social justice Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, addiction, Appalachia, character driven fiction, coming of age, family drama, generational trauma, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, social justice Lin Salisbury

Demon Copperhead By Barbara Kingsolver

Demon is resilient, he’s Teflon, he’s going to suffer, and the people he loves are not all going to make it out alive, but Demon, Demon is going to be all right.

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Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
#literarynovel, Action adventure, character driven fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, social justice Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, Action adventure, character driven fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, social justice Lin Salisbury

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

Whitehead has a way of making us think we’re looking through a window into another world with his novels, and then shifting the light so that we realize we’re looking in a mirror.

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A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley
#literarynovel, historical fiction, mystery, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, historical fiction, mystery, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley

This story of an unlikely pair of detectives, inspired by one of literatures first detectives, is a window into the world of mid-nineteenth century women living in a male-dominated world and the rough and tumble world of prospectors, sailors, and the Wild West of a bygone era.

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The Ski Jumpers by Peter Geye
#literarynovel, Action adventure, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, mystery, Nature, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, Action adventure, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, midwestern fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, mystery, Nature, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Ski Jumpers by Peter Geye

Geye writes with a musicality that soars above the complex plot of The Ski Jumpers. The novel moves back and forth in time and place – moving from Duluth, where Jon and his wife currently live, to the North Woods of Minnesota where he visits his daughter and her partner, and to Minneapolis, where Jon and his brother Anton grew up skiing in Theodore Wirth Park and jumping from the Highland Ski Jump in Bloomington. If you’re a fan of arresting family dramas with a bit of a twist, complex and provocative characters, breathtaking landscapes wrapped in luminous prose, The Ski Jumpers is your next read.

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The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher
character driven fiction, feminist literature, historical fiction, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury character driven fiction, feminist literature, historical fiction, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

There were moments at the beginning of the book where I felt that more editing would have been helpful – a little too much book title dropping to establish Beach’s credentials as a bibliophile and set the historical stage, felt forced, but once I got into the story of Beach’s incredible feat – a woman in the 1920s who took on a publishing world largely run by men – I was encouraged to read to the end.

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The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
#literarynovel, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, generational trauma, historical fiction, immigrant experience, literary fiction, Minnesota interest, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, generational trauma, historical fiction, immigrant experience, literary fiction, Minnesota interest, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee

Lee is one of a handful of American journalists who have been granted a visa to North Korea since the Korean War. Her book is carefully researched and the sections on Yungman’s early life in Korea, as well as his return, are layered with historical truths and emotional impact. It isn’t an easy thing to sustain momentum in a four hundred plus page book, but Lee’s ending is pitch-perfect and will resonate with readers for a long time.

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The Net Beneath Us by Carol Dunbar
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury

The Net Beneath Us by Carol Dunbar

Dunbar’s writing is evocative and as lush as the forest. Structured in four segments: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer, we watch Elsa flail and falter and then grow in strength and confidence as each season passes. THE NET BENEATH US is about the promises we make and keep – to ourselves and to others – and the profound work of grief – how it cleaves us in two and yet, we live, allowing the days and months and years that pass bind us back together, the two halves of a split trunk like the before times and the after times, joined in the middle by the heartwood.

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Violeta by Isabel Allende
#literarynovel, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical, historical fiction, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical, historical fiction, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

Violeta by Isabel Allende

During a time when laws protecting a woman’s body autonomy are being threatened, reading Allende’s book reminds me that throughout history, women have exhibited great strength and resolve, and when banded together, are a force to be reckoned with.

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The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
Action adventure, character driven fiction, historical, historical fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury Action adventure, character driven fiction, historical, historical fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett

Ken Follett is the massively successful author of 36 books – selling over 178 million copies worldwide. He writes thrillers and mysteries but his most popular books are the Pillars of the Earth Trilogy. That first book, PILLARS OF THE EARTH, was published in 1989 was about the building of a medieval cathedral. It was number one on best-seller lists everywhere and turned into a major television series in 2010. Full disclosure: I have not read the trilogy – HOWEVER, I did just read the prequel to the Pillars of the Earth that came out in September 2021: THE EVENING AND THE MORNING. The prequel is set in the Dark Ages, which may explain my following comments.

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Groundskeeping by Lee Cole
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, Southern Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction, Southern Fiction Lin Salisbury

Groundskeeping by Lee Cole

GROUNDSKEEPING is about that messy time in young adulthood when you are deciding what to pack up from your old life to bring into your new life. Cole’s writing belies that of a debut novelist. His characters are complicated and nuanced; their relationships are messy and there are no easy answers. Just like in real life.

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The Leopard is Loose by Stephen Harrigan
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, literary fiction, sense of place, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Leopard is Loose by Stephen Harrigan

In Stephen Harrigan’s big-hearted coming-of-age novel, LEOPARD IS LOOSE, five-year-old Grady’s tranquil world is upended when a leopard escapes from the nearby zoo. It’s 1952 and Grady and his 7-year-old brother Danny live with their widowed mother, Bethie, in a two-bedroom backyard apartment across a small patch of yard from her parents and siblings. For most of Grady’s life, the family compound has created a sanctuary where they could each heal from the devastating trauma of the war.

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Reeling by Sarah Stonich
character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, fiction humor, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury character driven fiction, domestic fiction, family drama, fiction humor, literary fiction, Minnesota Fiction, Minnesota interest, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury

Reeling by Sarah Stonich

Stonich has a gift for revealing vulnerability in the most unlikely places. RayAnne’s first interview in New Zealand is with Ellie Mann, a tough-talking, tuna trawler captain who puts her to work throwing bait out the back of the boat. Donning a helmet with a visor to protect her from the fish frenzy that follows, RayAnne feels an unfamiliar squeamishness at reaching into a pail of live bait.

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The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson
#literarynovel, #native voices, author interview, historical fiction, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, native american history, Native Voices, Nature, Sense of Place Fiction, women's history Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, #native voices, author interview, historical fiction, Minnesota interest, Native American Authors, native american history, Native Voices, Nature, Sense of Place Fiction, women's history Lin Salisbury

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

In her profoundly moving first novel, THE SEED KEEPER, Diane Wilson tells the story of Rosalie Iron Wing and her family’s struggle to preserve their cultural heritage. Flashing back and forth in time from Rosalie’s present day, to her early childhood, to the lives of her ancestors, Wilson reveals the devastation wreaked by white settlers on the family’s way of life.

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The Guide by Peter Heller
Action adventure, character driven fiction, Eco/Action Adventure, literary fiction, Nature, nature writing, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury Action adventure, character driven fiction, Eco/Action Adventure, literary fiction, Nature, nature writing, Sense of Place Fiction Lin Salisbury

The Guide by Peter Heller

Peter Heller, best-selling author of THE RIVER is back with a gripping eco-action adventure, THE GUIDE, featuring protagonist Jack from his previous novel. Jack comes to Kingfisher Lodge as a fishing guide to recover from a recent loss. The lodge is nestled in a canyon on a pristine river and serves an elite clientele. Jack is assigned to guide Alison, a famous singer who knows how to cast a line. But soon after his arrival, he realizes that there is more going on at the lodge than fishing.

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The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
#literarynovel, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, historical fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

It’s hard to write about the Dust Bowl without tipping over into melodrama, and at times it felt as if the only thing moving the story forward was the next disaster. The relationships between the women in THE FOUR WINDS kept me invested. Elsa is a bit of a sad-sack, but her daughter Loreda is fierce and as she ages, she challenges Elsa to overcome her fears.

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Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
#literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury #literarynovel, author interview, character driven fiction, coming of age, domestic fiction, family drama, feminist literature, historical fiction, literary fiction, Sense of Place Fiction, women's issues Lin Salisbury

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

THE GREAT CIRCLE is a big book – not just because it is nearly 600 pages long – but because of the breadth of the subject matter – art, aviation, prohibition, noncomformity, war, isolation, connection – and the period it spans 1909-2014 – give or take a few decade gaps. There will be So. Much. To. Discuss. with your book group! Maggie Shipstead has a keen understanding of longing and what it means to be human.

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